Today, the city of Lagos hosts a defining moment for Africa’s digital economy and entrepreneurial storytelling. At the intersection of lived experience and strategic vision, Saudat Salami, one of Nigeria’s most pioneering women in ecommerce, officially launches her debut book “Selling Pepper Online – How I Built Africa’s First Online Grocery Delivery Business and Lessons for Every Entrepreneur.”
The launch coincides with the inaugural edition of the Africa Ecommerce Summit, a new annual platform curated by her to drive dialogue, partnerships, and policy direction around the continent’s ecommerce landscape. Themed “Shaping Africa’s Ecommerce Future: Strategies for Growth, Collaboration, and Inclusion”, the event convenes key stakeholders from government agencies, international development organisations, logistics providers, tech startups, investors, food system experts, and digital entrepreneurs.
A Story Worth Telling. A System Worth Building.
“Selling Pepper Online” chronicles over two decades of building, scaling, and navigating the complexities of running a tech-enabled food distribution business in Nigeria. From founding Easyshop Easycook in the early 2000s before online retail became mainstream to exiting successfully in 2023, Saudat Salami’s journey reflects the resilience, creativity, and structure that African entrepreneurs must embrace to succeed.
This book offers a rare insider’s view into the operations, policies, customer habits, and ecosystem realities that shaped one of the continent’s first online grocery ventures. It is a practical, honest, and empowering resource for entrepreneurs, women-led businesses, and ecosystem builders.
Africa Ecommerce Summit: Anchoring the Future of Digital Trade
The summit component of today’s event is more than a side feature; it is a strategic launchpad. With AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) reshaping trade flows and fintech platforms expanding access to digital payments, this summit positions itself as a convening space for multi-sectoral engagement and year-on-year collaboration.
Two panel discussions are at the heart of today’s conversations:
“Ecommerce Regulations, Policy Frameworks, and AfCFTA”
Featuring representatives from the Nigerian Customs Service, GIZ – ECOWAS, and the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, this panel explores the roles of regulation, infrastructure, and intra-African collaboration in building a borderless digital economy.
“Grocery Delivery, Agriculture, and Accelerating Growth in the Sector”
This panel spotlights innovation within the agri-food ecommerce space, examining how logistics, digital platforms, and private-sector leadership can strengthen Africa’s food systems, create jobs, and unlock SME growth.
About Saudat Salami
Saudat Salami is a leading African entrepreneur, ecosystem strategist, and women empowerment advocate. As the founder of Easyshop Easycook Services Ltd, she pioneered online grocery delivery in Nigeria and built a customer-first business that scaled through grit, governance, and global partnerships. She currently leads the Saudat Salami Foundation, and consults across ecommerce, food systems, and SME growth around Africa.
Selling Pepper Online is her first book and is being adopted across training programmes, women-led business hubs, and economic empowerment platforms.
